002 STAR TREK: Missing Time
by Dan Bivens
Summary: After the events depicted in Balance of Terror, with the Romulans, the ENTERPRISE happens upon strange visitors from their future: themselves!
1. Chapter 1

**MISSING TIME**

by: Dan Bivens

Chapter 1

CAPTAIN'S LOG, STARDATE: 1733.7. It has been weeks since our combative encounter with the first Romulan Bird of Prey attack/scout vessel in a century. Weeks since the USS ENTERPRISE had successfully pushed them back towards the Romulan Neutral Zone, only to have the Romulan Commander initiate a self-destruct rather than surrender. Weeks since we held memorial services for the men and women who died on the pulverized asteroid posts situated along the Federation's side of the Zone. Weeks since I had to break the news to Angela Martine that her fiancée, whom she was to marry before that emergency situation took place, had died in the line of duty. After a short, but very necessary, stopover at Starbase 15 for repairs and a much needed few days of R-and-R, we, once again, moved out into deep space at a steady Warp Factor 4 on a much less taxing medical supply run to some of the colony planets situated in the outermost Sectors of the United Federation of Planets. We anticipated nothing unexpected or dangerous, however, I'd learned early on, as a starship commander, to expect the unexpected.

"Lt. Uhura, contact Colony Delta 8 and let them know we expect to reach their binary system in roughly eighteen hours," said Captain James T. Kirk calmly from the center seat as the viewscreen displayed the illusory image of steadily streaking stars while the ENTERPRISE maintained a warp field capable of allowing the illustrious starship to travel at a relative velocity equivalent to some 69 billion kilometers per hour.

Which, as fast as that sounded, was nothing in comparison to the hundreds of trillions of kilometers involved in traveling from one star system to the next…or to the furthest.

"Captain, the governor of Colony Delta 8 wishes to speak directly with you," Lt. Nyota Uhura said while half-swiveling toward Kirk, then, after listening more intently via her communications earpiece, fully turned toward her handsome commanding officer. "She requests a private link, Captain. Code Two."

Those last two words, said with a solemnity Uhura seldom expressed, would cause everyone on the bridge, even the always logical Commander Spock, to turn intense stares toward the only centralized figure on the circular deck at the top of the starship's saucer section.

As for the subject of those gaping gazes, Kirk took on the air of someone about to confront the cruelest of fates face-to-face as he stood and strode up short steps to end up inside a turbolift while ordering, "Mr. Spock, you have the Conn."

"Affirmative, Captain," Spock said with the intonation and affectation of a truly unemotional half-Human/half-Vulcan while stepping down onto the lower tier in order to officially assume the duties of a first officer and occupy said center seat.

"State name, rank, and serial number in order to receive Code Two communiqué," the synthesized voice of the ENTERPRISE's ship-wide computer system requested just after thumbed activation by Captain Kirk via his cabin's desktop unit.

With a directness born of extreme sobriety, Kirk said, "Kirk, James Tiberius, Captain, SC937-0176 CEC."

Barely a half-second later, which seemed like half an eternity to an anxious and apprehensive Captain Kirk, the computer's voice said, "Confirmed. Scrambled subspace link established."

The crystal clear, digitally perfect face of the gubernatorial leader of Colony Delta 8, Governor Deirdre Augustine, a handsome woman in her early-sixties, swiftly manifested itself as her equally crystal clear, via unseen speakers, voice further edified Kirk as to just how desperate this situation must be.

"Captain Kirk," greeted the nervously smiling Governor Augustine via Kirk's computer terminal as he sat tensely at his cabin's desk, leaning forward with both scowling face and forearms heavily pressed against his desk's smooth top. "I apologize for meeting you under such circumstances."

"What 'circumstances', Governor Augustine?" pressed Kirk with no patience for pleasantries.

Deirdre Augustine, governing head of an entire colony planet of mostly Humans, by the tens of millions, took an audibly deep breath before reporting…

"Captain, as of 0900 hours yesterday, an event took place on this planet the likes of which no one…not scientists, not theorists, not experienced Starfleet personnel…had ever experienced before. One which has a peculiar link to you and your top officers."

Puzzled and impatient, Kirk snappishly said, "You're not making sense, Governor. What 'event'? And why use Code Two to report it to a starship commander?"

"Allow me to switch over to a live view of the individuals of which I speak," Governor Augustine said surreptitiously just before tapping the proper control button before her to accomplish her stated action. "Then, Captain Kirk, I believe you'll understand the true gravity of the predicament."

As the digitally-perfect display on Kirk's small computer screen took all of a millisecond to switch to the flesh-and-blood topic of Governor Augustine's angst…

"Oh…my God."

"All right, Jim," snarled Dr. Leonard H. McCoy as he, along with Spock and Lieutenant-Commander Montgomery Scott, seated himself about the oddly shaped conference table in the main briefing room on Deck 6. "We're all here…now what's the big mystery that you couldn't tell us over the intercom?"

"The mystery, Bones, is coming on the tri-screens of the conference computer even now," Kirk said with both strained expression and tense tone as his forefinger pressed one of several multi-function buttons which activated the trio of small computer-access screens in the middle of the oddly-shaped table's smooth top.

"Jesus…"

"Saints preserve us…"

"Fascinating."

"How can that be real, Captain?" Scotty said with a disbelieving scowl as his Scottish burr made even a straightforward query sound almost musical.

"According to Governor Deirdre Augustine," said Kirk by way of a fumbling explanation, "they simply 'appeared' yesterday morning with absolutely no comprehension of why although they did know where they had been seconds before. They were on…this planet."

Tapping yet another tabletop control button, Kirk caused the baffling footage to promptly be replaced by the high-orbital view of an apparently lifeless world devoid of any visible source of water or much in the way of cloud cover. Comparable, in fact, to Mars in Earth's Sol system long before Humans colonized its arid, reddish surface.

"Now where the hell is that?" McCoy harrumphed even as his troubled glower deepened along with the Southern twang to his tone.

"As far as Starfleet Command and the Federation are concerned," sighed Kirk, his face a mask of tense puzzlement, "it has no name because it had never before been so much as surveyed let alone explored. The only reference made by those who mysteriously materialized yesterday morning on Colony Delta 8 was the term…Guardian of Forever."

With that, the four fell silent as they stared hard at the digitally-perfect images on the tri-screen displays. Watching what amounted to unconditionally familiar individuals, no matter how exceptionally impossible it all seemed.

Watching…

Another Captain James T. Kirk, another Dr. Leonard H. McCoy, another Lieutenant-Commander Montgomery Scott, and another Commander Spock. All currently cooling their proverbial heels in a well-guarded, by Security, VIP guest cabin.

Until the truth could inevitably be told…

END OF CHAPTER 1


	2. Chapter 2

**MISSING TIME**

by: Dan Bivens

Chapter 2

CAPTAIN'S LOG, STARDATE: 1734.2. Having been summoned via a Code Two scrambled subspace message, the USS ENTERPRISE has not only proceeded to Colony Delta 8, but myself, Dr. Leonard H. McCoy, Commander Spock, and Lieutenant-Commander Montgomery Scott have beamed down to the governor's mansion situated in the exact center of the largest city on a planet that is home to tens of millions of Humans. But it is only three Humans and one Vulcan for which we were concerned. Not just who they were…but how they got here. And, even more importantly, why.

Governor Deirdre Augustine, undisputed leader of the Human oriented colony world, whose Sector was situated on the very edge of Federation space, awaited the materialization of the small away team within the stately interior of said governor's mansion. Every bit as baffled about the impossible situation as them.

"Once again, Governor," Captain James T. Kirk said as he stepped forward from the small away team, "tell us everything you know about…them."

Governor Augustine shrugged and said, "There really isn't much more to tell, Captain. They claim to be…you."

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" harrumphed Scotty with his usual Scottish brogue while respectfully standing with his commanding officer.

"But that's impossible," said a scowling Dr. McCoy as he, too, stepped forward to join Kirk, Scotty, and the Governor. "Obviously they're imposters. The only question is…what are they planning?"

"I must disagree with you, Doctor," Spock said stoically as he stepped forth as well, his hands folded faultlessly behind his board-straight back.

"Well, ain't that a surprise?" snidely said McCoy with a scoff and a scowl. "If they're not imposters, Spock, just what the hell are they?"

"To answer that question, it will be necessary to question them," Spock said with the relaxed lifting of a slanted brow. "It would also be especially prudent to scan them with a tricorder."

"Why?" asked Kirk with a puzzled expression. "Don't you think they're truly humanoid?"

"I do not know, Captain," Spock said with a sure shrug as he furrowed both slanted brows. "However, extensive scans would leave no doubt as to their precise physicality."

"All right," agreed Kirk with a nod as he turned toward the still scowling McCoy and added, "might as well use a medical tricorder and medi-scanner, too, Bones. The more we know about them, the easier it'll be to get to the bottom of this."

"I still think it's a waste of time," snarled McCoy with continued causticity. "I'd just about guarantee that you'll find out that they've either had extensive cosmetic surgery or that they're some sort of shape-shifters intent upon some seditious…"

"Once again, Doctor, I must disagree," pressed Spock in a purely logical deportment, hands still folded firmly behind his back and a single slanted brow still raised. "If such were the ploy, they would not have allowed themselves to be discovered so easily. Much less attempt to tell such a fanciful story regarding some unexplored planet and unlikely entity called 'the Guardian of Forever'."

"All I know is," began Scotty with a groan, "I'd like to have about five minutes alone with the bugger claimin' to be me."

Just as McCoy and Spock were, once again, on the verge of arguing in regards to such unknowns, Kirk swiftly said, "Bones, have your medical tricorder and medi-scanner beamed down. Spock, do the same with your scientific tricorder. Governor, we will need to be able to interrogate the group freely."

"Of course, Captain Kirk," was Governor Augustine's ready reply as she pressed a secretive control that instantly signaled Security, to whom she directed her bureaucratic orders. "You will take them to the 'guest cabin'. They are to have complete autonomy in this situation. Is that understood?"

"Understood, Governor Augustine," the leading Security official, dressed much less customarily than the security officers on board the ENTERPRISE and armed with pocketed phaser ones permanently set to light stun. "Gentlemen, if you'll come this way…"

Having had their requested equipment transported down, as suggested by their commanding officer, Spock and McCoy were prepared for intensive tricorder scans, both scientific and medical, while Kirk and Scotty led the way, just behind Colony Delta 8 Security, into the VIP cabin wherein the other Kirk, Spock, Scotty, and McCoy had been since solidifying out of nowhere several hours before the arrival of the USS ENTERPRISE.

Needless to say, as Security stepped out to allow the VIP cabin door to slide shut while they, themselves, stood guard in the hallway, Kirk, McCoy, and Scotty were suddenly struck speechless as Spock straightaway started taking concentrated tricorder scans of the equally speechless doppelgangers staring straight at them.

"I'm," Kirk said hesitantly, "Captain James T. Kirk…"

"No," interrupted the other Kirk, "I'm Captain James T. Kirk."

"Bones?" the real Kirk asked abruptly of his chief medical officer seconds after the physician finished tricorder and medi-scanner sweeps of the quartet of replicates standing directly before the four officers from the orbiting USS ENTERPRISE.

"I don't understand it, Jim," said the real McCoy with a shake of his head. "According to all my medical scans…they are just as real as we are."

"What're you sayin', man?" said the real Scotty with a confused scowl.

"I'm saying, Mr. Scott, that these four individuals are every bit as authentic as us."

"You mean authentic as in," Kirk began with a bewildered look, "authentic duplications?"

"No, Jim," McCoy was quick to reply. "I mean authentic as in that is Captain James T. Kirk, Commander Spock, Lieutenant-Commander Montgomery Scott and Dr. Leonard H. McCoy."

"Spock?" asked Kirk of his always logical Vulcan science officer who, during all this, had maintained intense tricorder scans with dark eyes practically glued to the small screen's display of scientific details.

With absolutely no expression of emotion, other than the expected curiosity, Spock lifted a single slanted brow and said, "Dr. McCoy is quite correct, Captain. These individuals are, indeed, who they appear to be. And they are not mere duplications…they are, indeed…us."

"C'mon, man," scoffed Scotty with a categorical jeer. "Ya must be jokin'."

"As I am sure you are well aware, Mr. Scott," Spock said with his usual solemnity, "I am not prone to 'jokes'. I do, however, have some additional information on my tricorder that Dr. McCoy may not have on his."

"And what would that be, Spock?" asked a puzzled Kirk while quickly locking gazes with the taller Vulcan.

"According to my scientific scans, there is a discernable shift in the temporal nature of their cellular structures which would suggest that…"

"Whoa, wait a minute," McCoy was quick to interject while now also looking at the taller Vulcan. "Are you saying that these people are from another time?"

"To put it succinctly," nodded the half-Human/half-Vulcan, "yes. In fact, it would appear that they have, both separately and as a group, experienced a number of 'time-travel' incidents. Which means…"

"That they are, indeed, us," Kirk finished with a tense sigh. "Somehow, these individuals are ourselves from a different…even future…time-period."

"That is correct, Captain," said Spock as calmly and confidently as someone discussing an otherwise ordinary set of circumstances. "Apparently, whatever this 'Guardian of Forever' is, it clearly allows for travel through time. Logically, that would mean…"

"That at some point in our future," completed Kirk as he slowly looked in the direction of the other Kirk and company, "we use this 'Guardian' to travel into our past. But…why?"

"I believe, Captain, that I can provide a logical solution to this singular dilemma," the other Spock said with an eerily lifting of one slanted brow to perfectly reflect such an expression on the face of the real Spock. "If you would permit me…Commander Spock."

As both Kirks cast tense gazes at their respective Spocks, and as both McCoys screwed their countenances into masks of profound perplexity even as both Scotts looked on in mild mystification, the second Spock slowly placed his fingertips just so about the first Spock's pale face, while the first Spock did exactly the same to the second.

"Mind meld," said the real Kirk under his breath as some small part of him wanted to reach out and separate the Spocks even as another part of him was extremely curious as to the consequences of such a sometimes unsafe Vulcan practice.

"Our minds are merging," both Spocks said at the exact same time in an curiously somniferous resonance. "My mind to your mind. Your mind to my mind. All knowledge shall now be shared. All experiences shall now be reciprocal. I see what you see. I feel what you feel. We are…one."

END OF CHAPTER 2


	3. Chapter 3

**MISSING TIME**

by: Dan Bivens

Chapter 3

Already realizing that such a state of shared consciousness lent itself to specific questioning, the real Kirk, after getting a go-ahead nod from the other Kirk, began asking, "Mr. Spock…uh, Spocks…tell me: What exactly is the Guardian of Forever?"

Speaking as a single entity, the two Spocks said, "The Guardian was created by a long dead race some six billion years ago for the express purpose of providing instantaneous travel to other times and other places within any planet's specific past."

"Why?" the real Kirk asked simply.

"For a variety of reasons," both Spocks said simultaneously once again, their eyes tightly closed and their Vulcan countenances much more placid than expected from the science officer. "Some would use it to study their specific history. Some would attempt to alter their future…by changing their past. Still others would escape an oppressive present by retreating into the distant past."

"Jim," said the real McCoy to the real Kirk in a hushed aside specifically meant for his ears, "maybe you'd better hit the nail on the head."

Nodding, the real Kirk asked, "Why did you…and these others…go into your past? Our past?"

"To answer that," both Spocks, currently linked via a mind meld held firm by fingertips pressed to specific points along one another's pallid, green-tinged features, "it will be necessary to explain the specifics of alternate realities and parallel universal existences."

Realizing such was somehow essential to said explanations, first the real Kirk looked at the other Kirk, who, again, gave a go-ahead nod, then heaved, "Go ahead, Mr. Spock… Spocks"

Without hesitation, both Spocks, still psychically linked via their pressure point touching, mind melding method, began an oration that would gradually reveal the actuality about and endless lineage of other worlds in an equally endless array of realities.

"First, it is important to understand that time…past, present, and, to some degree, future…are merely another simultaneously existing dimension just as an infinity of other physical possibilities co-exist with what we each perceive to be our reality during any given moment in relative time and place."

"So you're saying," said the real Kirk by way of attempting to understand, even as the other Kirk, already realizing such to be absolute truth, smiled mindfully, "that there exists an unending infinity of other universes…other realities…other Kirks, other Spocks, other McCoys, other Scottys…"

"Affirmative, Captain," said the linked Vulcans without specifically directing such a response to any particular Kirk. "And, given that there are an infinite number of other realities and other selves…a number without end…then, logically, any sort of sentient existence, good and bad, factual or phantasmagoric, would naturally be an actuality for those in said existence. A James T. Kirk could be a physician in at least one other reality, while a Leonard H. McCoy could be a commanding officer. A Montgomery Scott could be a science officer, while a Spock could just as easily be a chief engineer."

"Am I to understand," the real Kirk cautiously pressed, "that I could be a half-Human/half-Vulcan while you could be…?"

"A complete Human," swiftly said the two Spocks, still entranced. "Yes, Captain. Just as it is a fact that in one of an infinity of universal realities, you or I could be a criminal element, while in another we would work for the greatest good. There are even eventualities where we would demonstrate something approaching godlike abilities…"

"Super-powers?" the real McCoy said in astonished trepidation. "You've got to be kiddin', Spock…er, Spocks. Though such might've been an occasional fantasy with any one of us, there's no way in hell that…"

"It matters not that you disbelieve such a notion, Doctor," the Spocks said idly since such was, for one and now, through this mind meld, the other, an absolute. "The fact remains that, wholly logically, an unending number of other realities and other selves within said realities means, mathematically, that these other universal presences actually do exist in said alternate or parallel universes. In one, the galaxy may exist in a condition comparable to 'heaven' while, in at least one other, it would be more like 'hell'. It is a fact that there exists, in one universal reality out of an infinity of same, that the United Federation of Planets is, instead, an imperial oppressive presence where conquest is the norm and exploration the exception."

"That leads to the final question, Spock…Spocks," the real Kirk said even as he gave a glaring look at the other Kirk. "Exactly why have you four stepped into, what is to us, our present?"

No longer able to maintain the mind meld, the two Spocks return their respective attentions to the here and now, even if the here and now actually only applied to one of them, as the other Spock turned toward the other Kirk while prompting his commanding officer to swiftly explain, "Captain?"

"To prevent," the other Kirk said seriously, "you and yours from falling prey to a cloaked Klingon cruiser currently skulking close by."

"What?" the real Kirk asked shortly.

"In using the Guardian to observe and study more recent history," the other Kirk said with a deepening dread born of uncontested truth, "it became clear that, in not only this reality but quite a few others…including our own…the Klingons would send a cloaked cruiser into this Sector of Federation space in hopes of, first, destroying a starship and, second, allowing an armada of similarly 'invisible' vessels to attack in order to rob us of several hundred light-years of space in order to…"

"Wait a damn minute," interjected the real McCoy contemptuously. "You're gonna stand there and say you came back in time to this particular colony planet at this particular point to tell us that there's a Klingon vessel laying in wait out there?"

"Yes," said a calmer-than-normal McCoy from an extra-temporal continuance. "Doctor McCoy…Leonard."

As the real McCoy was struck silent because of the other McCoy's matter-of-fact statement, the real Spock, having psychically envisioned the curious set of circumstances as invariably factual, spoke up.

"Captain…as seemingly ludicrous as this sounds, I can state, after a perfect linking of minds and memory, that their reasons for returning in time to Colony Delta 8 is, indeed, true. There is, at a distance of some ten million kilometers outside this binary system, a cloaked cruiser of current Klingon design. And it is, indeed, here to destroy a starship. Our starship, to be more precise. If we do not heed their warnings and act upon their facts…"

"You, your ship, and your crew," finished the other Kirk with a sincerity as unmistakable as the real Kirk was capable, "will be utterly destroyed."

Suddenly persuaded, Captain Kirk, from this reality and time, nodded, "Very well. But… how will you four return to your own time and space?"

"It is a fact," the other Spock said succinctly, "that the moment you four beam back to your USS ENTERPRISE, currently orbiting this planet…"

"These four," finished the real Spock, "will, in effect, automatically return to their own reality via the Guardian."

Having stated the truth in at least two time-space continuums, both Spocks raised a single slanted brow while politely folding their hands behind board-straight backs.

Flipping open his black-and-gold communicator with the expected chirp, the real Kirk commanded, "ENTERPRISE…four to beam up."

In the few seconds it took for the dematerialization to commence with the four from this universal reality, amidst the expected transporter whine...

"Live long and prosper," said the second Spock with the precise spread-fingered hand salute even as the first Spock followed suit even as he began to disappear amidst energized molecules.

END OF CHAPTER 3


	4. Chapter 4

**MISSING TIME**

by: Dan Bivens

Chapter 4/Conclusion

CAPTAIN'S LOG, SUPPLEMENTAL. Having ordered the ENTERPRISE into Warp One travel, we swiftly crossed the relatively short distance, cosmically speaking, from Colony Delta 8 to the coordinates of the cloaked Klingon cruiser. If the other-reality versions of ourselves were, indeed, telling the truth, we would be able to, at the very least, render the equal-in-size vessel from the Klingon Empire useless by precisely placed phaser bank blasts to not only render it absolutely visible, but essentially helpless.

"Status, Mr. Spock," Kirk asked tersely of his Vulcan science officer/first officer.

"According to the exact coordinates gleaned from the other Commander Spock's exact memory," stoically said this universe's Spock, "we should now be within firing range of the cloaked Klingon cruiser. Relaying exact coordinates for phaser fire to Lieutenant Sulu's board."

"Mr. Sulu?" pressed Kirk with tangible tension.

"Got it, Captain," Sulu said without a hint of doubt while peering at the proposed objective through his just-raised/locked targeting sight. "Within range…now."

"Fire, Lieutenant Sulu," Captain Kirk commanded while staring at the viewscreen's seeming display of empty extrasolar space. "Take out their engines…that should also cause their cloaking device to deactivate."

"Aye, Captain," Sulu said, still utilizing his raised/locked targeting sight. "Firing main phasers."

The ENTERPRISE dropped to sublight a split-second prior to phaser fire, as the reddish energy beams lashed out across the span of space separating starship from cruiser, blasting into inactivity not only the warp nacelles of the Klingon craft, but virtually everything else save life support.

Needless to say, mere seconds after losing their cloaking ability, the enemy ship solidified in the airlessness of space once again, causing Lieutenant Uhura to turn to state, "Captain, incoming message from the Klingon ship."

With a half-smile of silent celebration, Kirk said, "On screen, Lieutenant."

"Aye, sir," Uhura said with a smile of her own, while allowing beautifully manicured digits to dance across specific communication controls to comply with her Captain's command. "Coming on screen now, Captain."

"I am Commander Kraal of the Imperial Ship…," began the vicious visage of the commanding officer of the Klingon cruiser, as he was quickly cut short by the commanding officer of the starship.

"Commander Kraal, you are in violation of the current treaty between the Federation and your Empire," Kirk said harshly, "you will surrender for prisoner processing on Colony Delta 8 immediately or we will be forced to finish what we've started."

Clearly caught cold by the very starship they'd been sent to destroy as a prelude to an invading armada, Commander Kraal said with a tense sigh, "Though our code calls for us to set into motion a self-destruct procedure at this point, your attack has left such systems…unusable. Therefore…though it goes against my judgment as both a Klingon commander and citizen of the Empire…we hereby…surrender."

"Mr. Scott," said Kirk as he half-swiveled toward the left side of his bridge where Lieutenant-Commander Scott was seated at his station, "rig a tractor beam on the Klingon cruiser. Take it in tow."

"Aye, sir," Scotty replied with a lilting tone while rapidly programming his chief engineer's console to do just that.

"Mr. Sulu," continued Captain Kirk with a certain aspect of pride, "take us back to Colony Delta 8. Warp One."

"Aye, aye, Captain," Sulu said while promptly manipulating his helm's console controls for quick compliance.

"Lieutenant Uhura," Kirk finished with a self-certain smile, "send a subspace message to Starfleet Command. Let them know we have Klingon prisoners in need of political accountability."

"Aye, Captain," said Uhura proudly.

"Mr. Spock," Kirk finally said to his first officer while leaving his center seat for the swiftly parting turbolift doors, "you have the Conn. I have…other Kirks to consider."

END


End file.
